The study aimed to explore the perceptions towards health promotion activities among population of Penang Island,
Malaysia. The study was designed as a questionnaire based cross sectional analysis. General public from the district of
Jelutong, located in the state of Penang, Malaysia was conveniently approached for the study. Descriptive statistics
were used to ascertain demographic characteristics where as inferential statistics were employed to measure the
extent of association among study variables. Out of 480 respondents, a response rate of 82.7% was achieved. The study
cohort was dominated by females (63.0%) and majority of the participants belonged to Malay ethnicity (88.1%). One
hundred and seventy two (43.3%) never attended a health promotional campaign and mentioned lack of time and
transport as potential barriers. Among those who attended such activities, one third was satisfied with the benefits of
health campaigns. Approximately 90% of the participants demanded accessible locations, common language as mode of
communication and complete medical checkups with professional advice at health promotional campaigns. General
public can encouraged to participate in the health promotion activities by considering their priorities before designing
a health promotion program. This will help in targeting and achieving the goal “health for all”.
Worldwide maternal mortality rate had reduced tremendously including Malaysia. At the 2000 Millenium Summit, eight Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) were established with target for the year 2015. Three years remained until the deadline to achieve MDG5, which comprised of two targets and one being reducing the maternal mortality ratio by 75%.This review compared the trend of maternal mortality and its causes in our centre to the national data. The national data had shown a reduction from 44 to 27.6 in 100,000 live births in1991 and 2008 respectively. The subsequent rate had stabilized for the past seven years. In contrast the UKM Medical Centre (UKMMC) data in the past 15 years had not been stable. The target of MDG5 seemed to be achievable by our country but may require longer time as we have yet to find ways to overcome medical care inadequacy in remote areas.
Solitary adrenal metastasis is a rare presentation in breast cancer and it presents the clinician with a difficult therapeutic dilemma as there are no existing guidelines for optimal management. On literature review, we only found one published case report of solitary adrenal metastasis from infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast. Here we present a case of a 75 year-old lady who presented with a right breast lump which was subsequently confirmed to be infiltrating ductal carcinoma. She underwent a right mastectomy and axillary clearance. Computerised tomography (CT) staging revealed a solitary adrenal metastasis. She was treated with aromatase inhibitors and her tumour markers which were initially raised has now normalised.
Background: The transition from high school to a university is a significant milestone in every student’s life. Stress experienced by students can have a detrimental effect on their academic performance. Social support has generally been found to promote psychological well-being, as well as to buffer the effects of stress. Method: The study was conducted in one of the Universities in Malaysia. The study questionnaire was designed to include questions regarding socio-demographic aspects and stress of the students; in addition, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support scale (MSPSS) that was developed by Zimet was administered. The main aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between Perceived Social Support, Stress and Gender differences among University Students. Results: In this study only a small group of the students scored very low on the Perceived social support scale. A low significant inverse correlation was found between MSPSS and stress. Male students’ experienced greater stress than female students’. Female students had a better perception of social support from their families compared to male students. Conclusion: The fact that, as the level of social support increase the level of stress decrease clearly shows that social support acts as a buffer to stress.
Objectives: The aim of this study is to validate the Malay version of the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) for the purpose of the future study related to aggression. Furthermore, the study seeks to identify types of aggression hold by the female inmates.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed involving 90 Malaysian female prisoners. The analyses include descriptive analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability testing. After one-week interval, a test-retest was conducted.
Results: The preliminary analysis confirmed that factor analysis was appropriate for the Malay-translated version of the AQ. The four factors structure was assessed but the factor loadings are remarkable different from the original versions. The total Cronbach's alpha coefficients is very high (α= 0.91). The Pearson's correlation however is low (r = 0.48) but acceptable for the instrument. Reliability of the subscales and the factors were also found satisfactory. Consequently, anger and hostility were identified as the most common types of aggression among the participants, followed by verbal aggression. In contrast, physical aggression was the least scored type of aggression.
Conclusion: The Malay-translated version of the AQ was found to be valid and reliable to be used in future studies.
Objective: To determine the perception of medical students towards mentor-mentee system in Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of UNIMAS. Method: It was a cross-sectional study involving all 104 second year and 80 fifth year medical students. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic details, general perceptions on mentor-mentee system, academic support, personal development, and emotional and psychological support was distributed. The data was analysed using the SPSS version 19. Result: Majority of the subjects had a positive outlook towards the mentor-mentee system with a range of 45.6% to 57%. Three of the top rated perceptions were ‘mentor analyses mentee’s examination results and provides constructive feedback’, ‘mentor advises how to improve academic performance’, and ‘mentor gives encouragement and support for the challenges faced’ (66.8%, 68.0% and 62.9% respectively). Pre-cinical medical students had significantly better perception on mentor-mentee system than clinical students (p≤0.002) while those with non-clinician mentors significantly had better perceptions than those with clinician mentors (p≤0.003) on the system. No significant difference was found between the perceptions of males and females for all components (p=0.234 to 0.722). Conclusion: The mentor-mentee system was found to be successful as more than half of the respondents had posititve perception on the system and its aspects. However, pre-clinical students benefited more compared to clinical students, which reflects the need to look at the support given to clinical students. It was recommended that future studies should incorporate the perceptions of mentors.
Description of the male Pterygodermatites nycticebi (Mönnig, 1920) unknown until the present study, and a study of the cephalic and cuticular structures of the female. This rictularid has a morphological evolution comparable to that of other males of the Rictulariidae parasitic in viverrid carnivores and in primates.
Redescription of the female of Setaria thomasi Sandosham, 1954, parasite of Sus scrofa jubatus; description of the female of Papillosetaria malayi n.sp. from Tragulus javanicus. The study of the buccal region of Papillosteria leads the authors to consider this genus as an ancestral form of Setaria.
Domiciliary deliveries have always been the responsibility of traditional birth attendants. Since Independence, acquired in 1957, educated young women have been trained as auxiliary midwives and sent to serve in rural communities where they usually are met with resistance by the established traditional birth attendants. To counter this and to incorporate the traditional birth attendants into the health team, new roles were developed for each so that the two would be able to cooperate and support each other rather than rival and antagonise each other. A specific experience in one area of Malaysia is examined as an example.